break up

1.  Divide into many pieces; disintegrate. For example, Now break up the head of garlic into separate cloves. [Mid-1700s]
2.  Interrupt the continuity of something, as in A short walk will break up the long morning.
3.  Also, break it up. Scatter, disperse, as in The crowd broke up as soon as they reached the streets. [Late 1400s] This phrase is also used as an imperative, as in "Break it up!" shouted the police officer. [c. 1930]
4.  Bring or come to an end, as in His gambling was bound to break up their marriage.
5.  Also, break someone up. Burst into or cause one to burst into an expression of feeling, such as laughter or tears. For example, His jokes always break me up, or That touching eulogy broke us all up, or I looked at her and just broke up. The precise meaning depends on the context. This sense grew out of a usage from the early 1800s that meant "upset" or "disturb." [ Colloquial; early 1800s]

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v

Definition: end relationship, activity
Antonyms: reconcile

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(DOD, NATO) 1. In detection by radar, the separation of one solid return into a number of individual returns which correspond to the various objects or structure groupings. This separation is contingent upon a number of factors including range, beam width, gain setting, object size and distance between objects. 2. In imagery interpretation, the result of magnification or enlargement which causes the imaged item to lose its identity and the resultant presentation to become a random series of tonal impressions. Also called split-up.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 18 meanings:

Meaning #1: to cause to separate and go in different directions, of crowds, for example
  Synonyms: disperse, dissipate, dispel, scatter

Meaning #2: discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
  Synonyms: separate, part, split up, split, break

Meaning #3: come apart

Meaning #4: break violently or noisily; smash;
  Synonyms: crash, break apart

Meaning #5: make a break in
  Synonyms: interrupt, disrupt, cut off

Meaning #6: cause to go into a solution
  Synonyms: dissolve, resolve

Meaning #7: suffer a nervous breakdown
  Synonyms: crack up, crack, crock up, collapse

Meaning #8: take apart into its constituent pieces
  Synonyms: disassemble, dismantle, take apart, break apart

Meaning #9: destroy the completeness of a set of related items
  Synonym: break

Meaning #10: set or keep apart
  Synonym: sever

Meaning #11: attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
  Synonym: pick

Meaning #12: release ice; of icebergs or glaciers
  Synonym: calve

Meaning #13: close at the end of a session
  Synonyms: adjourn, recess

Meaning #14: terminate (legally)
  Synonym: dissolve

Meaning #15: break or cause to break into pieces
  Synonyms: fragment, fragmentize, fragmentise

Meaning #16: cause to separate
  Synonyms: disperse, scatter

Meaning #17: separate into constituent elements or parts, as of chemical substances
  Synonyms: decompose, break down

Meaning #18: laugh unrestrainedly
  Synonym: crack up

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - opløsning, opdeling, opbrud

Français (French)
n. - dislocation (d'un bateau), débâcle (de la glace), rupture, démembrement (d'un empire), (Pol) débâcle, (Fin) (valeur) de liquidation

Deutsch (German)
n. - Aufhebung, Zerfall, Zusammenbruch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - διάλυση, μεταβολή ρυθμού

Italiano (Italian)
crollo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - rompimento (m)

Русский (Russian)
разруха, развал, разойтись

Español (Spanish)
n. - desintegración, desmembramiento, fracaso, separación

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - upplösning, brytning, splittring

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
崩溃, 解散, 分离, 结业

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 崩潰, 解散, 分離, 結業

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 붕괴, 별거

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 砕く, ばらばらにする, 壊れる, 終わりになる, 参らせる, 解散させる, 散り散りにする, 休みになる

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮התפרקות, התמוטטות‬

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the break up